Empty the Bench

The phrase “jump for joy” has taken on a whole new meaning and relevance in the Portland area this morning. A day after beating the odds and winning the first overall pick of the 2007 NBA Draft (read: Greg Oden, maybe Kevin Durant), the long-embattled Trail Blazers have quite a bit to look forward to: more jersey sales, more season-ticket holders, more national TV coverage, more, more, more!

This was already a team on the rise, having successfully eradicated the main culprits of their “Jail Blazer” days and forging a new foundation of talent in Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Alridge, Jarrett Jack, Sergio “Spanish Chocolate” Rodriguez, and Martell Webster. They have an excellent coach in Nate McMillan, who’ll now get a chance to put in even more in-person scouting of Durant and Oden as a member of the Team USA coaching staff this summer. And in what we feel will qualify as a “check and mate” move, GM Kevin Pritchard should finally have the leeway to jettison one of the last remaining bad seeds on his squad, Zach Randolph, to help make room for one of these two all-everything prospects.

To that end, Jason Quick for The Oregonian’s “Behind the Beat” Blazers blog thinks the bounty of riches won’t end with the draft this summer. With the Seattle Supersonics landing the second overall pick, and ETB favorite Rashard Lewis facing free agency, Quick feels Pritchard and the Blazers will pursue a sign-and-trade deal for Lewis.

“I can’t see us trading this pick,” Pritchard said. “This is a very top-heavy draft and we feel like there is an unbelievable difference maker. They don’t come around. As we move our timeline with Brandon (Roy) and LaMarcus (Aldridge) and a young team, we feel like his player will really be a benefit to that.”

I think a key factor that should not go unnoticed is that Seattle got the No. 2 pick, and how that might become a factor in the Blazers’ chances at signing Sonics free agent Rashard Lewis.

I think the Blazers are intent on luring Lewis from the Sonics come July. And wouldn’t Lewis’ view of the Sonics and his long-term future/role in Seattle change if the Sonics draft Durant – a player who plays the same position?

Could the Blazers drafting Oden force the issue?

If Lewis was to land in Portland – and granted, it would have to involve a sign-and-trade, and likely have to involve a third team (Chicago?) and probably Zach Randolph – it would create a potential starting lineup of Jarrett Jack, Brandon Roy, Rashard Lewis, LaMarcus Aldridge and Oden.

As Patrick Stewart so graciously tells Andy Millman after receiving his script for When the Whistle Blows, we strongly feel that Pritchard should “make it be so.” Does that sound like a fun team to watch over the next few years or what? The prospect of this young team eventually knocking the Spurs down from their Western throne is just too delicious to think about… and make no mistake, if Oden performs as advertised–and he will–and those other guys continue along their path of development, it would happen. Maybe not next year, or the year after, but the Blazers would become a top-tier franchise in the NBA.

Now go out and get Rashard Lewis. Please. We all want a new team to root for in the West.